Sports and recreation
Running a marathon
Estimated population-level acute risk associated with completing a full marathon (26.2 miles) during a race event.
Base risk estimate
7 micromorts per races
Population-level estimate. Not a personal prediction.
Assumptions
Based on race-day conditions for competitive full marathon events (26.2 miles) in the United States 2000–2010. Includes cardiac events during and immediately after the race.
Limitations
Covers race-day cardiac risk only; does not include training-related events. Risk is substantially higher in men than women (0.90 vs 0.16 per 100,000 overall across all distances). Not applicable to recreational running at training pace or to half-marathon distances (~3 micromorts).
Source notes
Kim et al. studied 10.9 million participants in US marathon and half-marathon events 2000–2010, recording 59 cardiac arrests (42 deaths, 71% case fatality rate). The cardiac arrest rate for full marathons was 1.01 per 100,000 participants; applying the 71% case fatality rate yields approximately 0.72 deaths per 100,000 marathon finishers = ~7 micromorts per race.
Last reviewed
5/31/2024